Quinn borrowing plan DOA, state Senate Republicans say

SPRINGFIELD -- On the eve of Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget address, Senate Republicans said Tuesday there is no support among the GOP for Quinn’s plan to borrow $8.75 billion and use it to pay old bills.

DOUG FINKE

SPRINGFIELD -- On the eve of Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget address, Senate Republicans said Tuesday there is no support among the GOP for Quinn’s plan to borrow $8.75 billion and use it to pay old bills.

“The governor’s proposal is dead on arrival in the Senate,” said Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine. “We will not continue to feed the governor’s insatiable appetite for spending.”

If Republican senators stick together, the borrowing plan cannot pass the General Assembly. Borrowing needs a super-majority, or three-fifths, vote to pass, meaning support from Republicans in both the House and Senate is needed.

Quinn’s office issued a statement that the governor is still committed to the plan.

“It will bring immediate relief to service providers and vendors awaiting what they are owed and it saves taxpayers money,” the statement said.

Quinn calls the plan “debt restructuring” because the state already owes the money to vendors and service providers and pays interest on the overdue amounts. The plan would allow the state to eliminate its backlog of bills in a matter of weeks. Administration officials have said it will take the state 10 years to clear up the backlog using just revenue from the recently enacted income tax hike.

Quinn chief of staff Jack Lavin said the restructuring would have far-reaching effects. Getting current on bills will save purchasing costs, help the state’s bond rating and preserve jobs at the companies now owed billions by the state. The plan will save the state money and provide “fiscal stability,” he said.

“They’re (Republicans) out playing politics and using rhetoric when we need to sit down and look at the numbers and look at what fiscal stability means,” Lavin said during a budget briefing Tuesday.

Lavin said the administration has asked the GOP for ideas.

“We’re waiting for the Republicans to give us a counterproposal,” he said. “They have not done that. They simply say ‘no.’ We’ve asked them to stop playing rope-a-dope and give us a counter proposals. They can’t continue to say no. The state can’t afford to have that happen.”

A portion of the income tax hike would be used to pay off the bonds issued to pay the bills. Another portion of the hike is scheduled to expire after four years. Murphy predicted that won’t happen unless spending cuts are made now.

Quinn last week released a list of more than $3.6 billion in reductions he made to the state’s general funds budget. However, Republicans noted that more than $2.2 billion of that is Medicaid and state employee health-care bills that were postponed, not eliminated.

In a statement, Quinn also said Republicans have been no help in determining where to reduce spending.

“The governor’s office has sought Republicans’ input on alternatives, and they have proposed none,” it said. “The governor has made actual spending reductions while they have called broadly for ‘belt-tightening.’ The governor’s office has proposed specific cuts only to hear Republicans say ‘not in my district.’”

The last was an apparent reference to Springfield’s Republican legislators, who complained when the Department of Agriculture cut funding for the National High School Finals Rodeo to save money.

Asked to name specific cuts they support, the 20 Republican senators at Tuesday’s news conference offered almost no specifics or details. Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, said it’s possible education funding could be kept flat for a while or that changes could be made to child-care programs.

“I know that is a sacred cow,” Radogno said. “Those are programs we didn’t have a short time ago. I don’t know that we are a lot better off for it. I’m not saying eliminate it, but there are efficiencies that can be gained.”

Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, did not attend the news conference. He said he was tied up with another commitment, but that he supports the Republican position on borrowing.